Upcoming and Past Events

Mayuka HabbickRing Around the Readers! – Digest VersionChildren love picture books, which are a rich source of language learning in themselves, but how can you leverage this learning value even further? It takes a bit of thought and preparation. In this workshop, I will share some of my ideas and activities including how and why I came up with them.Bio:Mayuka Habbick Educator, frequent lecturer of seminars and workshops on early childhood education, Co-founder of JJ Education, The Certified National Trainer and Educational Concept Developer of LEGO® Education, and Director of E for JU.Masafumi OtsukaTeaching English in the age of complexity

Since Lehman’s collapse, the nature of business English has drastically changed. In the past, our goal was to learn English on a native level because our customers were European and American companies. After the financial crisis, the world’s main consuming market began shifting away from developed countries, which started to focus more on austerity, to emerging countries. Global firms now operate in a world that is substantially more volatile, uncertain, and complex. This presentation will provide you with insights of what is currently happening in the global economy and the talents global firms are looking for. We hope this presentation will inspire you to think how you can prepare your students to thrive when they go out in the real world.Bio:Masafumi Otsuka Prior to starting MANABI Limited, a corporate training company dedicated to develop global businesspeople, Mr. Otsuka worked for Tokai Bank (Currently Mitsubishi Tokyo UFJ Bank) as a corporate sales representative for 4 years and worked as an advisor for an educational start-up company for two years. Raised in the US and coming back to Japan at the age of 12, Mr. Otsuka uniqueness lies in understanding the Japanese mind-set, the mind-set most Japanese don’t realize though acting upon it. Mr. Otsuka currently acts as a board member of NPO Supporting Union for Practical Use of Educational Resources.BA, Keio University; MBA, University of Virginia